In vehicle design, safety and crashworthiness is increasingly important. To that end, vehicle structure and safety systems play a significant role. Modern vehicle safety systems commonly include a variety of devices such as seat belts and air bags to help protect a passenger in the event of an accident. Such systems are commonly designed to work together to improve overall vehicle safety and provide the best possible protection for vehicle occupants.
In one such safety system, a side air bag is utilized in conjunction with a seating system to protect an occupant in the event that the vehicle is struck at a side of the vehicle. To ensure proper timing of an air bag system, an air bag sensor is typically utilized to detect an acceleration profile experienced by a vehicle and to send a signal to the air bag. If the acceleration profile is above a predetermined limit, the sensor will cause the air bag to deploy as soon as possible to ensure that the air bag is in position in a timely manner to ensure proper occupant restraint. If the acceleration profile is below a predetermined limit, the sensor will not send a signal to the air bag and the air bag will not deploy. In this manner, air bags are commonly designed to deploy only when the sensor detects a predetermined acceleration profile and to prevent deployment when the vehicle experiences a low speed impact. To prevent deployment of an air bag during a low speed impact, conventional air bag sensors are commonly disposed within a structure such as sheet metal that usually deforms before the air bag sensor receives the signal. Such systems may have a slight delay in the deployment of the air bag under a high speed or high load impact due to the air bag sensor being disposed within a structure of the vehicle.
Therefore, a vehicle safety system that provides for immediate deployment of an air bag following a high speed or high impact event while concurrently preventing deployment of the air bag under a low speed or low impact event is desirable in the industry.